Aniki
by peachandbetty
Summary: A series of drabbles based on Itachi's role as an older brother. This is NOT Uchihacest. Just pure fluffy dedication to Itachi's life, death and the bits in between. Warnings: none.
1. Dango

Hey guys. Itachi's death has been getting us all down lately. So, in dedication to his uchihotness and pure sexy anikiness, I present to you ficlets.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I own you.

Warnings: Sugar abuse.

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**Dango**

Social scientists have often asked the question: why is it that the hidden village system is so effective? Civilians would answer 'because it's safer'. Daimyou would answer 'because it makes them easier to manage'. Shinobi, however, seem to have hit the nail on the head with their answer.

Shinobi know too well that they live very different lifestyles to civilians. Spare time is spent training their bodies and their minds, not lounging in bath houses or appreciating the rather useless facets of 'art'. Shinobi do not court wives, simply for sheer lack of time and the inconsistency of their work. Rather, should it be necessary, marriages are arranged. Some wives only ever see their shinobi husbands on the day, and night, of the wedding.

But, to Uchiha Itachi, the most obvious difference is their diets. Civilians can afford to eat until their silhouettes mutate beyond that of the desired human shape. They can eat fried foods. They can eat three servings of their evening meal. They can eat sweets in between.

And Itachi hated it.

He couldn't really see the logic. He'd been told by his mother that shinobi need to be lithe and slender, with compacted muscle which could only come from a fatless diet. So, at home, he ate rice with no flavouring, boiled vegetables and lean slithers of unsalted red meat. To his family, food was a necessity, nothing more.

But, this being said, if he were to indulge in the occasional (thrice daily) sweet, he would just train it off anyway. Most shinobi had excellent metabolism, and his was more superior yet. It made no sense that shinobi, while often refused many of life's pleasures, would be refused the one pleasure they could get away with, whilst civilians got fat on even the smallest treat even though their work was bound to be affected by it.

So, every night when his father called 'lights out boys' down the hallway, he would listen in anticipation for the slight rattle of the screens and the light vibrations on the wooden flooring that told him Fugaku was asleep. For it was at this time, safe from prying eyes, he would open the screen to the courtyard, and sit on the porch, careful to avoid the treacherous squeal of the board just left of the entrance.

And from under those boards, just behind one of the support beams, he would retrieve his nightly prize: dango, fresh from the shop, straight off the skewer.

Itachi reasoned that his attraction to dango was perfectly justified. He had never shown adverse affects to its consumption and if his father, who laughingly believed he had kept it a well-hidden secret, could have the same relationship with whiskey, then anything else would be hypocritical. After all, his father had always so religiously pressed his teachings, morals and prerogatives onto his son.

Taking a quick glancing sweep of the courtyard, he lifted one of the treats from the box his cousin had placed there, as he does every day during his visits. He was forever thankful to have a cousin like Shisui. Without him, he was sure life would be too bland to bear. One day, he would have to return the favour, with interest.

He smiled wistfully at the thought, his mind working through various scenarios in which this could be accomplished, as he popped one of the little coloured balls into his mouth.

And almost choked on it when he heard a very poorly whispered 'Nii-san!' come right behind him. How the hell had he missed that?!

Turning around slowly, dango still un-chewed in his mouth, Itachi felt like some kind of criminal, or a man caught cheating on his wife, absurd though the thought was. Sasuke, in his little superhero pajamas, was staring at him, expressive onyx eyes large with curiosity and disbelief, the old worn blanket he was clutching falling to the floor from loose fingers.

"Aniki, you shouldn't eat that! Mother says you'll get spots and lose hair and go blind and shrink and grow blubber like whale-san! Why would you want to eat that stuff, Nii-san?" Ah, whale-san. The black-sheep of the family. Went downhill the day his wife passed, and consumed his weight in lard to outweigh his heavy heart. He wondered briefly how he would feel knowing his only purpose within the clan now as to act as a deterrent for little boys. The thought kind of annoyed him.

"You know, you shouldn't just believe what everyone tells you. A good ninja should look beyond what's on the surface, underneath the underneath. You want to be a good ninja, right?" That should get him. If there was one thing that drove Sasuke, it was the desire to follow his Aniki into the higher ranks of the shinobi world, fighting evil together side by side. Bless.

But instead of the bright smile of excitement and enlightenment he generally procured with that particular trump card, he found himself facing his worst nightmare as large onyx eyes glazed with moisture and bottom lip started quivering,

Shit.

"You mean Okaa-san was _wrong?_" Of course. To a five year old the though must be inconceivable. Why oh why could he not have thought of this beforehand? Stupid Sasuke and his stupid expressions stopping his stupid brain from functioning.

"So when Okaa-san said the thing under my bed went away, he's really still there? And…Santa…and…" Oh dear God, this was getting bad. If he didn't rectify this soon, his mother would get an earful in the morning and if she got an earful _he _would get an earful and…the dango…

"Sasuke. Mother is a wise woman. As a mother, she knows a lot of things we don't and we should listen to her always. Even if what she says isn't true, you should accept it as true because she's Mother and mothers know best. But there will be a time when you have to decide for yourself what is best. Mother can't always look after us, else who would look after Mother? Even mothers need to rest."

Yeah, that's right. He played the guilt card. And by the softening look on his brother's face as he took it all in, it was working. Now to seal the deal…

"So, it's okay for you to eat sugar because you think it's best because if you think it's good for you then Okaa-san can rest. I…think." Sasuke, reasoned aloud, still at a time in his life when such things were hard to internalise. It was obvious he couldn't quite get the logic but he would never let his Aniki know that. For a five year old, he had plenty of the old Uchiha pride.

"That's close enough." Itachi smiled as he pulled Sasuke into his lap and wrapped his arms around him, earning a muffled giggle from his treasured otouto. And with that all thoughts of monsters under the bed, Santa and illegal dango were forgotten as Sasuke snuggled into his big brother's embrace. It was so natural for them, and Itachi wistfully entertained that they would still do this in years to come and feel not an ounce of indignity. His Father, on the other hand, would have a few words to say otherwise…

"Ne, Nii-san. Okaa-san says tomatoes are what make the Sharingan go red. Can we grow tomatoes? Then I can be like Nii-san!" He chirped, looking up from the perch on his lap.

It took a lot of effort for Itachi to push away his logical side, almost to a point of physical strain. "Okay. We could plant them by the pond over there…"

But for Sasuke, he would always endure.

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AN: Okay, that was longer than expected. No pressure to review, but it would be appreciated. J


	2. Let's talk

-1I'm updating fast for once.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I don't even own my own hairbrush atm.

Warnings: Explaining sex to a 5 year old. Everyone should be warned against it, thank you very much.

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**Let's talk…**

Itachi considered the day he hit puberty to correspond to the day his father had first pulled him aside, his usual stern frown looking uncharacteristically strained and his eyes seeking to avoid any contact with his own, and taken him to a quiet corner in the family library.

He could still remember the strange feeling of dread he had learned to associate with his father's discomposure, the distinct sense that he was about to either very much regret the coming moments or very much appreciate their occurrence. Even today though, he wasn't sure which it was.

That day, his father had picked out form the book case something that had well and truly surprised him. A pop-up book? His father had dedicated his life as a father to making Itachi grow up much before his time, to reach his full potential as soon as possible for the sake of the clan's position in the village. So why on earth a pop-up book? He hadn't even been allowed to touch one when he was a toddler.

Looking at the front page warily, his eyebrow nearly disappeared into his hairline.

"'How do we made babies?' Otou-san, forgive me, but I don't feel this is appropriate literature. Women make babies, thus reading a book on such a topic is useless to me. Maybe you should give this book to cousin Miyako. She asked me this very question just last week."

Itachi face-palmed at the memory of his answer. He could not believe he had ever been so ignorant. If his father had taken the time to spend a moment with him, talk to him no less, and even give him a book on the topic, it must have been important.

That day, he had struggled for the first time in his life to get his young prodigy head around new information, something he usually revelled in. He had spent the following night prodding and poking his own body in pure disbelief that the images that vulgar book had popped out at him could ever be a prelude to his own development.

In the morning, when his cousin Miyako had come to take her daily walk into town with Shisui and himself, he had been late, adding five minutes to his morning routine in between his shower and breakfast to check in the mirror for any changes he should be aware of and thus accommodate.

While Shisui had laughed and prodded his naked chest, "With those girly looks of yours, you should be checking for boobs not hair!", Miyako had gone strangely silent and had stayed that way for quite a while whenever in his presence. Until, one day, she had asked him if she could be his wife when he was older. That was the second time that month Itachi had been shocked out of his own skin.

Oh yes. Uchiha boys, he had found not long after that little episode, had a very prominent effect on females. Once Itachi had gotten over the initial shock of this epiphany (which had taken a good year at least), he had made quick of work learning to utilise his natural given advantage in life, combat and even at home. His mother would never refuse him an extra apple after his meal or another hour in bed with his own mastered brand of a devastating smile.

So, when he came down for breakfast one seemingly ordinary day, one week before his baby brother's sixth birthday, with his parents mysteriously absent from the kitchen table and his brother sitting there with his 'thinking face' on, he should have been well prepared for the words that came out of his mouth. Oh. No. Nothing could ever had prepared him. Nothing.

"Nii-san, where do babies come from?" Itachi had always prided himself on his ability to manipulate the verbal tool to turn a situation gone sour to something he could work with, or even something to his advantage. He had charmed girls into ceasing their…passionate behaviours towards him with one phrase; "Please, do not put me in a position in which I must chose between friends. It troubles me that I could cause a rift between a bond as special as yours. I believe friendship should be valued above all else. I admire those of a similar mind." Oh, yes. Avoiding that sour grape had been a tough one. But it was all thanks to his verbal ability that such feats had been possible.

But this simple, short question of which he knew the answer to at this point in more than sufficient detail, had his usually fluid tongue tied in a proverbial knot. So, on the spot, he decided that half answers would be the safest route.

"Babies come from mothers, Sasuke. Speaking of which, where are Mother and Father?" Nice fluent topic change. Sasuke in his experience had a very short attention span at his young age. The only thing he could ever recall him truly concentrating on was his crappy superhero-samurai movies and watching him train.

"They told me to tell you that they've gone out for the day to do some paper work at the police station and that you have to look after me until they come home. They didn't answer my question either."

Crap. His otouto was one week from his sixth birthday and already he was developing a larger attention capacity. He felt for a moment as if nature had cheated him.

"Everybody knows Okaa-sans make babies. That's why they're Okaa-sans. But how do Okaa-sans make babies? How did I fit in Okaa-san? If Okaa-san is Okaa-san because she made me, why is Otou-san Otou-san?" Sasuke's 'thinking look' returned as he absently stirred his now soggy bran flakes in the bowl.

Even he hadn't asked that many questions! And he had the talk well after Sasuke's age. And the audacity of his mother and father to leave him to do their work! Wait, he was playing the blame game. He must be getting desperate…and desperate times mean desperate measures.

"Sasuke, why don't we talk in the library."

And, bait well and truly bitten, the boy dropped his spoon in the bowl, hopped down form his chair, and eagerly skipped after his nii-san to what would be his next rite of passage.

Ten years later, upon seeing his brother smirk his devastatingly handsome smirk at a pink-haired girl whose head he had his arm resting above, he had finally realised the answer to his old question: 'the talk', good or bad?

He smiled once again the smile he had reserved only for his brother as the girl threw her arms around him and squealed a clearly audible 'Yes, yes I will!'.

It had been well and truly worth it.

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Okay, I'm on an update spree lately. Read and review if you want to guys (you know I secretly love it). Sorry to disappoint anyone who had expected detail on the sex front. Look at the rating

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